Final Act of the Congress of Vienna/Act XI

by The plenipotentiaries of the high powers who signed the treaty

( Declaration.)

The Powers called upon to mediate in the arrangement of Swiss affairs, in order to implement the 6th Article of the Treaty of Paris of the 30th May 1814, having acknowledged that the general interest requires that the Helvetic States enjoy the benefit of perpetual neutrality; and wishing, by means of territorial restitutions and cessions, to enable Switzerland to secure its independence and maintain its neutrality;

After obtaining all information related to the interests of the different cantons, and considering the claims submitted by the Helvetic Legation;

Declare, that as soon as the Helvetic Diet has duly and formally acceded to the stipulations contained in the present instrument, an Act shall be prepared, containing the acknowledgement and guarantee, on behalf of all the Powers, of the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland in her new frontiers; which Act shall form part of that which, in execution of the 32d Article of the Treaty of Paris of 30th May, was to complete the arrangements contained in this Treaty.

(Transaction.)

ART. I. The integrity of the nineteen cantons, as they existed in a political body at the time of the Convention of the 29th December 1813, is acknowledged as the foundation of the Helvetic System.

ART. II. The Vallais, the territory of Geneva, and the principality of Neucfchatel, are united with Switzerland and shall form three new cantons. The valley of Dappes, which formed part of the canton of Vaud, is returned to the latter.

ART. III. The Helvetic Confederation, having expressed a desire that the bishopric of Basel should be united with it, and the mediating Powers wishing to definitively settle the fate of these countries, declare that the said bishopric, and the town and territory of Bienne, shall in future form part of the canton of Berne.

The following districts are excepted:

1. A district of about three square leagues in extent, including the communes of Altschweiler, Schönbuch, Obersweiler, Terweiler, Ettingen, Fürsteintein, Plotten, Pfeffingen, Aisch, Bruck, Reinach, Arlesheim; which district shall be united to the canton of Basle.
2. A small enclave, situated near the Neufchatel village of Lignicres, being at present, with respect to civil jurisdiction, under the sovereignty of the canton of Neufchatel, and, with respect to criminal jurisdiction, under that of the bishopric of Basle, shall belong in full sovereignty to the principality of Neufchatel

ART. IV.

1. The inhabitants of the bishopric of Basle and Bienne, united to the cantons of Berne and Basle, shall enjoy, in every respect, without any distinction of religion (which shall be maintained in its present state) the same political and civil rights which are enjoyed, or may be enjoyed, by the inhabitants of the ancient parts of the said cantons. They shall, consequently, be eligible equally with them for the places of representatives, and for other offices, according to the Constitutions of the cantons. Such municipal privileges as are conformable with the Constitution and the general regulations of the canton of Berne, shall be continued to the town of Bienne, and to the villages that formed part of his jurisdiction.
2. The sale of the national domains is confirmed; the feudal rents and tithes cannot be re-established.
3. The respective Acts of Union shall be framed conformably to the principles above declared, by Commissions, composed of an equal number of deputies from each of the interested parties. Those from the bishopric of Basle shall be chosen by the canton director from amongst the most eminent citizens in the country.
   The said Acts shall be guaranteed by the Swiss Confederation. All the points upon which the parties cannot agree, shall be decided by an arbitrator appointed by the Diet.
4. The ordinary revenues of the country shall be collected on account of the present Administration, until the date of the accession of the Diet to the present transaction. The arrears of the said revenues shall be collected in like manner, but the extraordinary taxes, which have not yet been paid into the public chest, shall not be demanded.
5. No indemnity having been received by the Prince Bishop of Basle, for the quota of the revenues accruing to him from the bishopric which hitherto formed a part of Switzerland, and a stipulation having been made in the recess of the German empire of 1803, in favour of those countries only which have become an integral part of the said empire, the cantons of Berne and Basle are to pay to him, in addition to the said annuity, the sum of 12,000 florins of the empire, dating from the Union of the bishopric of Basle to the cantons of Berne and Basle; the fifth part of this sum shall be applied to, and remain as a provision for, the support of the canons of the ancient cathedral of Basle, in order to make up the annuity which has been settled by the recess of the German empire.
6. The Helvetic Diet shall determine whether it be expedient to retain a bishopric in this part of Switzerland, or whether this diocese may not be united to that which, pursuant to the new arrangements, shall be formed out of the Swiss territory which belonged to the diocese of Constance.

In case the bishopric of Basle should be continued, the canton of Berne shall furnish, in the same proportion as the other countries which shall in future be placed under the spiritual administration of the bishop, such a sum as may be necessary for the support of this prelate, of his chapter, and of his seminary.

ART. V. In order to secure the commercial and military communications of the town of Geneva with the canton of Vaud, and the rest of Switzerland, and with a view to fulfil, in that respect, the 4th Article of the Treaty of Paris, his Most Christian Majesty consents to place the line of custom-houses, so that the road which leads from Geneva into Switzerland by Versoy, shall at all times be free, and that neither the post, nor travellers, nor the conveyance of merchandize, shall be molested by any examination of the officers of the Customs, nor subjected to any duty.

It is equally understood, that the passage of Swiss troops shall not in any manner be obstructed.

In the additional regulations to be made on this subject, the execution of the Treaties relative to the free communication between the town of Geneva and the jurisdiction of Peney, shall be guaranteed in a manner the most suitable to the interests of the inhabitants of Geneva. His Most Christian Majesty consents likewise, that the gendarmerie and militia of Geneva, after having communicated on the subject with the nearest military post of the French gendarmerie, shall pass on the high road of Meyrin, in the said jurisdiction, to and from the town of Geneva.

The Contracting Powers, moreover, interpose their good offices for the purpose of obtaining for the town of Geneva a suitable accession of territory on the side of Savoy.

ART. VI. With a view to provide mutual compensations, the cantons of Argovia, Vaud, Tessin, and St. Gall, shall furnish to the ancient cantons of Schwitz, Unterwald, Uri, Glaris, Zug, and Appenzell (Rhode Interior) a sum which shall be applied to the purposes of public instruction, and to the expenses of general administration, but principally to the former object, in the said cantons. The quality, the mode of payment, and the proportions of this pecuniary compensation, are determined as follows:

1. The cantons of Argovia, Vaud, and St. Gall, shall furnish to the cantons of Schwitz, Unterwald, Uri, Zug, Glaris, and Appenzell (Rhode Interior) the sum of 500,000 Swiss livres.
2. Each of the former cantons shall pay the interest of its quota, at the rate of five per cent. per annum, or have the option of discharging the principal, either in money or landed property.
3. The proportions, either of the payment of this sum, or of the recept of it, shall be determined according to the scale of contribution regulated for providing the federal expenses.
4. The canton of Tessin shall pay every year to the canton of Uri, the half of the produce of the tolls in the Levantine valley.

A Commission appointed by the Diet shall superintend the execution of the preceding arrangements.

ART. VII. To put an end to the disputes which have arisen, with respect to the funds placed in England by the cantons of Zurich and Berne, it is agreed;

1. That the cantons of Berne and Zurich shall preserve the property of the funded capital as it was in 1803, at the period of the dissolution of the Helvetic Government, and shall enjoy the interest thereupon, dating from January 1st, 1815.
2. That the accumulated interest due since the year 1798, up to the year 1814, inclusive, shall be applied to the payment of the remaining capital of the national debt, known under the denomination of the Helvetic debt.
3. That the surplus of the Helvetic debt shall remain at the charge of the other cantons, those of Berne and Zurich being exonerated by the above arrangement. The quota of each of the cantons, charged with this surplus, shall be calculated and paid in the proportion fixed for the contributions destined to the payment of federal expenses. The countries incorporated with Switzerland since 1813, shall not be assessed on account of the old Helvetic debt. If an excess of interest should remain, after discharging the above debt, such excess shall be divided between the cantons of Berne and Zurich, in proportion to their respective capitals.
4. The same dispositions shall be observed with regard to other debts, the deeds concerning which are now in the custody of the President of the Diet.

ART. VIII. The Mediating Powers wishing to conciliate all contentions respecting the lauds cancelled without indemnity, have determined that an indemnity shall be paid to the individuals proprictors of lauds. For the purpose of avoiding all future dispute on this subject between the cantons of Berne and Vaud, the latter shall pay to the Government of Berne the sum of 300,000 Swiss livres, to be afterwards divided between the claiming Bernese proprietors of lauds. The payment shall be made at the rate of a fifth each year, commencing from January 1st, 1816.

ART. IX. The Mediating Powers, acknowledging the justice of securing to the Prince Abbot of St. Gall an honourable and independent existence, direct, that the canton of St. Gall shall pay to him an annuity of 6,000 florins of the Empire, and to those under him, an annuity of 2,000. These pensions shall be paid by instalments (commencing from the 1st of January 1815) into the hands of the directing canton, every three months, which shall place them at the disposal of the Prince Abbot of St. Gall, and of those under him, respectively.

The Powers mediating in the affairs of Switzerland, by the above Declaration, afford a manifest proof of their desire to secure the internal tranquillity of the Confederation. They also feel it a duty to omit nothing which may accelerate its accomplishment.

They expect, therefore, that the cantons, laying aside, for the public good, every secondary consideration, will no longer delay their accession to the Federal Union, freely consented to by a great majority of the Swiss States; the common interest imperiously demanding that every part, of Switzerland should unite, as soon as possible, under the same Federative Constitution.

The Convention of the 16th August 1814, annexed to the Act of the Federal Union, can no longer be an obstacle to their union. Its end being already attained by the Declaration of the Powers, it is in fact annulled.

To insure still further the repose of Switzerland, the Powers desire that a general amnesty be granted to all individuals who, led astray at a period of uncertainty and irritation, might have acted in some respect or other contrary to the present order of things. Far from weakening the legitimate authority of Governments, this act of clemency will afford them a new claim to exercise that salutary severity against whoever shall attempt in future to excite disturbance in the country.

Finally, the Mediating Powers trust, that the patriotism and the good sense of the Swiss people will point out to them the propriety, as well as the necessity, of mutually obliterating the remembrance of those differences which have divided them, and of consolidating the work of their reorganization by endeavouring to perfect it, in a spirit conducive to the public good, without any recollection of the past.

The present Declaration has been inserted in the Proctocol of the Congress assembled at Vienna, at its sitting of the 19th March 1815.

Done and certified by the Plenipotentiaries of the eight Powers who signed the Treaty of Paris. Vienna the 20th March 1815.

(The Signatures follow in the alphabetical order of the Courts.)

Austria,	The Prince Metternich.
	The Baron Wessenberg.
Spain,	P. Gomez Labrador.
France,	The Prince Talleyrand.
	The Duke de D'Alberg.
	Latour du Pin.
	The Count Alcris de Nouilles.
Great Britain,	Wellington.
	Clancarty.
	Cathcart.
	Stewart.
Portugal,	The Count Palmella.
	Saldanha.
	Lobo.
Prussia,	The Prince Hardenberg.
	The Count Hardenberg.
Russia,	The Count Rasoumoffsk.
	The Count Stackelberg.
	The Count Nesselrode.
Sweden,	Lowenhielm

Notes

1. Hansard (1816)

References

• British Foreign Office British and Foreign State Papers. 1814—1815 Volume II. Compiled by the librarian and keeper of the papers, Foreign Office-London: James Rigway and Sons, Piccadilly, H.M.S.O., 1839. pp. 142-147. Original French. The additional formatting of this treaty from this document.
• Hansard, The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time ..., Volume 32. 1 February to 6 March 1816, T.C. Hansard, 1816. pp. pp. 182-187. The translation is from this document.